Machine for incorporating stiffeners in boots and shoes



March 12, 1929. n F RICKS 41,704,839

MAcuINEA-FOR INcoPoRA'rING STIFFENERS iN oo'rs AND SHOES Original Filed Aug. l0, 1925 Patented Mar. l2, 1929.

UETED STTES PATENT QFFlC.

FRED RICKS, OF LEIOESTER, ENGLAND, ABSIGNOR TO UNETED `SHOLE MACHINERY GOR- PORATION, 0F PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR INCORPORATNG STIFFENERS IN BOOTS AND SHOES.

Original application led August 1'0, 1925, Serial Noi. 49,807, and in Great Britain September 12, 1924. Divided and this application filed November 19, 1926. Serial No. 149,490.

This invention relates'to ineehines for placing? und for prei-eine into place in the uppers ot boots anti shoes. preparatory to the pnlinfrover :infl l=i:;tinf operations, Still'enere1 which require Sonie preliminary treatment surh ns dippingy thein in n solvent or subjecting them to heut in order to render them sticky :intl pliable.

lion-toe blanks ot thiS grenerul ijf" e are ein 1;1onl v iA eorporutefl in the uppers ot bootsy nntl Shoes in two Ways by stitching or stsiplnfg then; in plexo and (p2) by putting' thein loosely into the upper :rml depending upon their Sticky quality when nottenefl :2nd upon pressure to tir; them in position in the upper., the present invention being eoneerneil with :i innehine Ytor use in carrying out the rist-nunmal proemlure. For example, a thermoplastic box-toe blnnk in its: etitf condition is commonly placed in position between the proper loyers el lnniterial at the toe portion ot the upper, and then Sziiel toe portion., with the blnnl; in placea Subjeeterl to tie notion ot a heated press whereby the blank is softener! bv the lient mul pressed into the hivers of the upper to tix it in plii'ee. A niaehi'ne tor aeeornplishinp; the heatingT and pressing operations is disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. Lil/3378, grunted .le-n. 30 1923` upon :in application tlefl in the neme oit Oeil- Wnv, euitl lnnebine being atlaptefl for une only with uppere betere they :ere fzeeeinbleel upon lfm-ies.

in inworporning :i boxwtoo blruil; in :in upper in the menner whirl; l nebeen desseiibml above. the operator worlmr :it u iieaulvi unie bv i'tzfion el the lient that. in insert the bbX-toe b upper prepnrijn-y to the priesin; oporiition he n'@,t (le three thinft; nt the #time ,f nniuiel'; hohl the upper flo-Wn fnion :i hible or other Siri'ipoi'n piill bnr-k eertiiin layers nt the toe portion ot the in. and innert the boxtoe bln-'nk 1n position.

reeorilinr to the preeont invention, iere aire plf'ovnledl upper supporting wenn@ tor facilitating the insertion of the etit'iner sind moons for prefsfinlej' the 'inerorteil stig er into plree1r Whether tbe upper is on or ott the hint. The pif'ensinfiv meu-ns muy be limited, :is in the nir 'hine oi the partent; on iff desired. the pressing ineens inrqv he (cold, and 'the surtt'ene'r rendered soft :intl nlieliy prior to the presentation ot' the ripper with .ite Vetiittener lil l Z t0 the pressing ineens. In yany event, hovever, whether the stiftener is inserted in the upper in u stili' or in :i sott einitlition, the insertion in` greatly ineilitnteil by the taut that the upper, v-:liether on or ott the inst, is supported in smb manner thet the operator has both hande` tree to manipulate the layers ot material of the upper :ind to insert the stitenrr between the prop-er layers.

'Ellis and other tentures ot' the invention inelutling: certain details of Construction and eon'ibinutions ot parte Will be described ns embodied in an illustrative nnuhine and pointed ont in the appended elninis.

" terringr non' to the accompanying dra-wire l shows in side elevation n machine, :according to the invention.l for supporting :in lippe zuleeinbleil upon :i hiet to facilitate the insertion of a bon-toe blank, ind having' meant; tor pressing the toe portion of the upper;

Figure 2 shove dingrnninmtieally on an enlarged smile n portion of materiale of an upper supported by the machine ot Figure l ut :1 Certain in i1 preferred Wry of usthe machine.

The nnu'hine shown in Figure l has means tor supporting :in upper Whether on or oil' the last in such nmnner as to leave Alboth `hund` ot zin operator free to manipulate the toe portion ot the upper While he in ert1 n boy-toe liliinl; in proper pofition in vthe upper ne here- 'imil-er iloiwibwl. :ini-l menne for therezrl'tor "n the loe portion of tbe upper fio aupf. with the botoe blzifnk in position in the rippen no :is to nttm'h the blank to one or more :nl invent lnjy'e si he upiiier.

For boli-ling or support-ing the lust. the nniehin'f ooniprifief; an abutment l for the heel end ol' :i lmet, e. last pin 2 niova'bly niouilted sind :ilnptell to press a last 3 placed thereon zigiiinnt the aliuti-nent 1 and a table 4 upon wbieh tbe toe portion of the upper may be held while u box-toe blank is poeitionerl upon it.

The lest-heel abutment 1 is eonvenently lined with telt or the like und is V shaped, extending upv-:zudly sind it a, small :ingle to the vertical from a base 5 which carries :i stand- :irfl on wl 'eh a lever 7 carrying the last pin 2 is pivotnlly inountefl. euri-ien The lever i' the lest pin pointing downwardly :md forwardly on one of its encls, amd the other end lou extends rearwardly of the pivot and is connected at 8 to a treadle (not shown) placed under the base. The pivot 9 oi tbe lever T is horizontal and is surrounded by a spiral spring 10 which tends to move the lastpin towards the abutment l, the last pin being roughly parallel, in the position shown, to the line forming the apex ot the V et the abutment. fis shown in Figure l, the last 3 held by the pin 2 and abutment l occupies a position bottom down with the toe portion pointing upwarlly towards the operator. The table 4 is supported b J legs ll upon the base and is positioned :1t a small angle to the iorizontal, so that the toe portion ot an upper assemblcilon the last l, l ut held at its rear end between the last and abutment l, may lie turned back\.vardly over the table l and ther e held by the operator in his full view, inside uppermost, while 'the box-toe blank is being inserted as hereinafter described.

ln using' the machine the operator places an upper upon a last and depresses the treadle mentioned, thus litt-ing the l( pin 2 away from the heel abutment l. lle then places tho lastnpon tl'ie pin and releases Yth,x treadie. Release of the treadle causes the last to be clamped between the pir. and abutment with the forepart ot the last closely under the table 4 and the tip line ot the upper adjacent to the edge ot the table. The, toe portion ot' the upper is then turned back upon the table and held there by one hand of the operator While the blank inserted by the other hand, no manual holding ot the last being required. A second depression ot' the treadle at the conclusion of the use ot the machine release.` the last.

An upper as placed on its last generally7 comprises, besides the material composing the actual toe tip which will be visible when the shoe in wear, one or more layers ot fabric of an absorbent nature. lt will be assumed that the upper is ot' thisK kind and the these ast-mentioned materials are a!- tached together by stitches running` across they toe tip from side to side oi the shoe near the tip line so that the rear edge ot the visible toc tip overlaps the torward edge of the vamp ot the upper; and it will be l'i. .'tber assumed that the box-toe blank to be usted is a composite one made ot two separate pieces, the one thermoplastic and the other ot' a heat resisting` character, being made, tor eXai'i'iplc, of tabric impregnated with a water soluble gum. A stiftener of this kind and the method oi using it is disclosed and claimed in application Serial No. 19,160, tiled in my name March 28, 1925. ln such a case it is usually desirable that the piece ot gunnncd tabric should be accurately placed directly against the inside of the leather toe tip with its edge closely abutting against the line ot stitchiiu; and the n'iacbine enables the position of this layer to be thus tired with singular facility. Re-

tert-ing more particularly to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the upper ot the shoe is so held that the rear edge ot the toe tip il is i djacent to the rounded edge ot the table l so that, it the toe tip is pressed down upon the table and the fabric layers l?, 18 pulled back, the toe ti i is bent away from the torwvard edge ot the vamp '13 to provide a groove or pocket into which the operator may place the bottom or rear edge ot the piece l5 which has been previously wet so to be soit and pliable.

V[he thermoplastic piece may then be inserted while hot and sott and then the layers all secured together as usual by a more wipe ot' the lingers or hand to press them tirinly together and ensure adherence, but, as hereinafter indicated, the machine comprises a presser tmay be ueeel tor this latter pur- A me. l will be appare t that the machine may be rscd in the manner described to incorporate in an upper any bon-Loc blank ln Figure i?, the portions which is sticirr. lo, l? and 1.8 represent respectively a lining proper not attached to the upper at the toe portion, and two layers of fabric, usually known as doubler-s.

Dealing now with the aforementioned pressing arrangements ot the machine ot Figure l, the presser 20 is mounted upon a stem 2l which can move up and down in a bore in a bracket member 22 slidably carried by a bar 23 which is adapted to slide horizontally in bearings 2li, 25, carried at the upper ends of extensions 26, 27 of the standard 6. The rear end of the bar 23 is connected by a cord 28 to a second treadle, by depression ot which the rod may brought forwardly to the position shown against the pressure of spiral springs 29, 30 confined by collars 3l, 32 tired on the rod 23. Pivoted upon the bra/cl et at 3B is a bell-crank lever 3a slotted at its ends to engage pins 35, 3e lined respectively upon the .stem 2l and the bar 23. yl`he bracket also car ries a stop 37 for the lever 34.

Except when in use l'or pressing the toe portion o. an upper tbe presser 2t), bracket 22 and lever il occupy the positions indicated by the dotted lines 200, 21%() and 54( the ba r 23 being maintained in a rearward position by the springs 29, EEO. lly a pull upon the cord 28 the bar 23 moves fro ward carrying with it the bracket 22 which is propelled by the spring 30 until it reaches the bearing); 24. The bracket being thus stopped. turlher moveA ment ot the bar 23 and pin 5G causes rocking movement of the lever 84 into the position shown and causes depression ot the presser 2() upon the table 4l. The treadle by which the cord 28 is pulled is latched in position it it is desired to hold the presser down without action by the operator.

On release ot the treadle, the springs 29, 30 expand, the action ot the latter being to hold the bracket 22 in its torward position until the lever 84 contacts with the stop 37, the

liv; UA,

presser 2O being thereby raised from its pressing position before moving rearwardly, this latter movement being for the purpose of affording ample clearance for manipulation of the work on the table 4, it beingl understood that, in order to operate as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 2, there should be abundant room above the table 4 for various layers such as 17, 18 to be turned back, the box-toe blank inserted, and the layers returned to position over the blank, all while the toe cap lies on the table 4. As shown, the presser 20 is so mounted and operated that the squeezing pressure is distributed uniformly over the blank; it may, however, be mounted so that the pressure is concentrated along the rear margin of the blank to secure the advantageous thinning of that margin by pressure upon the soft material of the blank, as in the press of the United States patent.

In addition to its pressing` mechanism, the device of Figure 1 comprises an upper clamping finger adapted to clamp upon the top face of the table 4 at the rear margin thereof the eXtreme toe portion of the toe tip of the upper. Such a finger is shown at 40, extending' from the hub of the lever 7, so that, as the last pin 2 moves toward the abutment 1 to clamp the last 3, the finger comes down towards the upper lying on the tabie. A stop pin 42 is provided to limit the upward movement of the spring' 40 so that it does not interfere with the rearward movement of the presser 20.

The machine has been described above as provided with a presser 20, a last bolder 2 and a clamping;N finger 40. It should be noted, however, that certain of these parts may be omitted or not used under certain circumstances without destroyingF the utility of the machine. For example, it may be desired to piace a softened thermoplastic btar' in an opper be''or-cthe upper is :isseniblril opio 'the last in which euse the last holder is not required. ln such case the toe portion of the upper may be placed upon the table 4 and held there by engagement of the clamp 4() with the toe tip while the operator inserts the softened blank in the upper.

rl/here both a thermoplastic and a heatresistant layer are used both must be rendered soft before such a pressing operation if the press is unhea ted but, if the press is heated and the heat-resistant layer is of fabric impregnated with a water soluble gum, advantage may be taken ot' the heating of the press to 'facilitate tixinp,i the ,egummed fabric layer in position in the upper, since the heat of saich a press can soften such gunimcd fab-- ric if the fabric is damped superiicially.

iilthough the invention has been set forth as embodied in a particular machine, it should be understood that the invention is not limited in the scope of its application to the particular machines which have been shown and described.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 49,307, the claims of the present application beingl restricted to the particular embodimentof the invention herein disclosed, while the parent application contains the broad generic claims.

Having thus desc ibed my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure Letters Patent ofthe United States is l. A machine for incorpoiatinpr a box-toe blank in the upper oi a shoe having, in coinbination` a tabie to receive the layer at the toe port ion of tbc upper upon which the boxtoe blank is to be placed, and means for supporting the upper with its tip line adjacent. to one edge of the table preparatory to the placingy oit' the l'oX-toe blank in the upper.

2. A machine for incorporating a box-toe blank in the upper of a shoe having, in combination, a taule to receive the layer at the toe portion ot' the upper upon which the boxtoe b lank is to be placed, means for supporting' the upper with its tip line adjacent to one edge ci' the table preparatory to the placing.,r of the box-toe blank in the upper', and means for pressing he box-toe blank into place.

3. A machine for incorporating' a box-toe blank in the upper of a shoe having, in coinbiuation, a table to receive the layer at the toe portion of the upper upon which the boxtorblank is to be placed, means for supporting an upper assembled upon a last with the tip line of the upper adjacent to one edge ot' the table preparatory to the placing of the box-toe blank in the upper, and means for pre ne' the box-toe blank into piace.

4. A machine ior incorporating,- a box-toe blank in the upper of a boot or shoe having, in wunbina'tion, a table adapted to receive the toe portion ot the upper, and treadle-controlied means tor holding' one or more lavers oi the upper upon the table in position lo permit :i stiti'encr to be placed lmtween two otr .Uniti lukv'tl'i.

."i. machine t'or incorporating a bon-toe blank in the upper o' a boot or si oe having', in con'ibination, a table adapted to receive the too portion oi the upper, treaille-controiled means for holdingl the upper in position to permitits toe portiiui to lie upon the table, and` means for pressing' the toe portion including; an inserted box-toe blank against the i'tliit..

6. A machine of the class described having', in eonilV ination, a table to receive the toe poi"- tion oi' the up; ier of a shoe., a clamp adapted to hold a selected layer oi the upper upon the table, during,` the insertion of a box-toe blank, a presser normally spaced from the table, and means for operating the presser.

7. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a table to receive the toe portion ot' the upper of a shoe, a clamp adapted litt) tohold: a; selected Layer of the upper upon the faible during the insertion of zi box-toe blank, e. presser nornmlly spaced 'rointhe table, and mea-ns for operating bhe clamp and presser in timed relation.

8. A maehine of the class deserihed hevingq in coinluination,` a including; u 'mLle o reeeive the toe portion of. the upper of a shoe. u cooperating press normaly spaced 'lrmu the table, means for clamping; lie exweufr of lu outer layer ol the upper to' the table with he ip line adjacent :1n edge of the table Wherehy he upper muy be lient abou suial edge :nul u box-toe blank insel-mh :unl nieuns for opera-ting; the presser.

9. A nmehino of the class (leseriherl having1 in combination, u press including1 n 'ulsle to receive the toe portionvoi the upper of e shoe. a cooperating press normally spaced 'from the able, means for Clamping the exlieniy of the outer layer of. Jdie upper to the tuple wil-h the tip line adaeent a-n edge of he fehle whereby the upper num; be bent about said edge and a hoX-toe blank inserefl.` unil inem for operating firstl the clamp und then the presser..

10. A machine of; the elnss deserihexfl heving, in combination, a press adapted lo exeri pressure upon the toe portionv of the upper of si,y shoe to ix w stiffener in place in said upper, and e support for the upper which has been assembler-l upon e lest wml has huil its toe portion bent awayfrom *che las? into posi tion to he engaged by the prese, saidv support winprising ineens for engaging the lustv pin hole.

ll. A inurhine of the clues (leserilzeel heffing, in coinhinanion7 L press zu-lepterl o oxert pressure upon a portion or the upper of :1 shoe, a supporf`r 'for en upper zissfeinhe l= upon :L lust, said support coin" sing' :i pin Vfor enguging he hiet pin holer` uinl'inesus for mow ine' the pin and with i the upper into und out oi" operative relutioufo the prefs.

A- nmehiue for invorpmuiiugr :i lupi-too lsluinl( in the ums-iper ork u, shoe having', in vom hinulion, uy iuhle upon which the tipol' the upper l 1i l (hiring the iin-ferion of ihn blank, uml ul presser, seifl presser :Ln/il tehle hein/p; nmrnmlly out, o? register with each other to provide ,sg/mee above the inhle for manipuleion oi rhe layers of the upper during the insertion of he blank :mil being; relatively movuhlo to hringy them info register. .find ineens for ihereuter Causing relative movement ogethen o? the presser and table to press the hlnnl inmplace.

En 'estimony whereof- I have signed my nume tev this specieat'ion.

FRED KICKS.v 

